addicted to wrenching...

From: "Brian Sanderson"
Subject: Addicted to wrenching...
Date: July 9, 2005 10:00 AM

My Brother in law...gotta love 'im.

G is a gentleman and a scholar (no, really!) but his mechanical aptitude is
untrained. He found a really nice 24" DS 15 speed in the trash and nicked
it for his 12-yr-old son.

However...

The RS pedal had been stripped (removed, threads damaged, and forcibly
cross-threaded at an angle!), and the chain was really rusty. G figured he
might need a new one. So he called me and came over @ 6 PM with the bike
and son in tow.

The pedal was easy, I just sledged the old one out, then used a largish 15mm
wrench and cheater (and much sweat) to PERMANENTLY (haa haa haa!) affix a
duplicate replacement with UNdamaged threads. It'll probably never come out
again, but as long as it works, right? The chain had one stiff link and a
good soak with penetrating oil (and a little reefing with pliers) freed it
up.

Time 6:15 - job over, right?

Nope.

Once the chain was done, I happen to notice the forward derailleur won't
move. A little lube there. Then I see the cable is stuck; no problem, just
thread and cut a new cable. Then I find the rear brake pads are shot...no
trouble at all! - I have a spare set right here! Uh-oh! The sprockets on
the cassette are all rusted and have broken/chipped teeth...hmmm, I have an
older Shimano 5 cassette that will fix...Boy! does this rear wheel need new
grease!...oooh, better re-center that back brake...Hmmm, that old lock clamp
on the stem is just getting in the way...ya know, these derailleur stops
really need to be re-set...better pump up that rear tire...this wheel has a
warp there and needs a little tweak with a spoke wrench...

G stopped me before I could align the seat and re-pack the front hub (which
didn't really need it); and so I cannot say I did a COMPLETE overhaul on
this bike. By this time it was 8:15 and I think he was afraid that if he
stayed much longer and let me fix "just one more thing", he and his son were
going to be there after dark...

....but I gotta say, it felt good getting my hands dirty. I think my nephew
is really going to enjoy this bike. Just so long as he doesn't leave it out
in the rain and undo all that work...

"Brian Sanderson" wrote in message
...

The RS pedal had been stripped (removed, threads damaged,
and forcibly
cross-threaded at an angle!), and the chain was really
rusty. G figured he
might need a new one. So he called me and came over @ 6 PM
with the bike
and son in tow.

The pedal was easy, ... The chain had one stiff link and a
good soak with penetrating oil (and a little reefing with
pliers) freed it
up.

Time 6:15 - job over, right?

Nope.
...
...but I gotta say, it felt good getting my hands dirty. I
think my nephew
is really going to enjoy this bike. Just so long as he
doesn't leave it out
in the rain and undo all that work...

Yeah, it's an addiction, but as addictions go it's not bad.
There are worse.

Golf
Investing in your own bike shop
Getting a boat

just to name three.

In article 1121043144.b149b65e19f1aa49595e65d7b1fb7902@teran ews,
"Mike Kruger" writes:

Yeah, it's an addiction, but as addictions go it's not bad.
There are worse.

Golf
Investing in your own bike shop
Getting a boat

just to name three.

I think "investing" in a race horse is in there
with the worst.

Growing your own vegetables is one of the best.
mmmmm ... Blue Lake green beans ...

I could also easily get re-addicted to upland
game-fowl hunting. I dunno if that's good or bad,
but it can be pretty delicious. Oh, for a nice &
light, good-quality .410 and a loyal, soft-mouthed
bird dog.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca